Counter Corruption
by FranziskavonKarmaWhippedYou
Summary: AU. Layton is sick of the corruption in London, but after ten years of trying to rise against it, he suddenly finds out why it's never happened before: his rival, Gabriel, is in possession of a supernatural offensive squad. Luke investigates the curious life of the vampire's butler, who left an impression in his mind long ago. This story is weird and random, be warned.
1. Chapter 1

"Call her off!" Luke screeched. "Call her off, please!" Raphael gazed down upon his lady – she was feasting upon the young girl who she had found, her vampiric urges having taken over. 'Calling her off' was a useless thing, and besides, he was simply the lady's butler.

"It is not in my place to call her off," Raphael said, his voice monotonous, his eyes showing no sign of any emotion. Luke grabbed the vicious vampire, but she spun round and bit Luke's wrist with her fangs. He yelped and flailed helplessly as Raphael pulled him back and away.

Luke went limp. There was no use in fighting anymore. Even if he attacked the berserk vampire, the victim was probably already dead or dying. He could do nothing. The vampire stood up, wiping the blood from her chin. She walked over to Raphael and beckoned to him.

"Let's go," she said coolly. Luke grabbed Raphael's sleeve, tightly, and frantically said to the cold and unforgiving butler:

"Are you really gonna let this monster continue?!" Raphael broke away swiftly and hurried after his vampire mistress, not letting Luke's words get to him. Raphael knew that was his mistress was doing wasn't right, but really...

Luke was quite ready outside the hospital, waiting. He knew that tonight, Raphael would not be safe from an accident. Well, it was an educated estimate, but... He was pretty sure. Sure as sure could be.

And, an hour or so later, Raphael appeared in the car park, a small and extremely bloody bandage around his neck. He walked absent-mindedly, as if he knew the hospital well. Luke trailed Raphael, and hid behind a newspaper until Raphael got seen. Luke followed him again, and Raphael gave him an ugly glare as Luke claimed to be a friend of Raphael's.

The doctor removed the bandage, revealing a horrific, bleeding bite wound. What really creeped out Luke was the scars – Raphael's neck was covered with scars, all bite marks with the occasional slash. The doctor seemed to know Raphael well, and stitched up the wound with no complaint.

Luke walked alongside Raphael as the older man made his way home, but Raphael spoke not a word in response to Luke's terse questioning. The vampire lady was waiting outside a building and Raphael approached her, following her inside. The door was slammed and locked and Luke found himself unable to summon any wit to pick the lock.

Hershel Layton had been trying for almost ten years to up Gabriel, but finally, Gabriel was acting in retort. Layton's secretary had been brutally murdered by the infamous vampire Lyanna, and Luke had been able to do nothing against her formidable strength. Lyanna had meant to deliver a warning straight to Layton, but had ended up delivering a far greater one.

His archrival had arrived in person, flanked by his vampire, her butler and a very broad, tall woman and a shorter man who seemed to mean something to her from the way she was standing in front of him. Gabriel had been known for his beauty, but pictures meant nothing. He really was beautiful, and amazingly pure-looking, for how corrupt he was.

"I see you're trying to gain the upper hand on me," Gabriel said sharply. "That will not work. Please desist, lest I need to deliver any other... warnings. In the form of that boy. Luke, was it? Yes, he was foolish enough to hang around outside of my house even after we made it obvious we wanted him gone. And now we have him, and believe you me, Lyanna is no stranger to playing the cat to his mouse." Lyanna smirked, and Raphael shrunk back somewhat, which Layton's quick mind noticed immediately. And the great bandages around Raphael's neck spoke volumes.

"Also, if that wasn't enough... Raphael, go," Gabriel said, commanding Raphael with ease and amazing malice. Raphael walked over to the wall and pulled out a piece of chalk, then drew a large pentagram with seemingly runic symbols sketched around it. "Well, Layton? We'll curse you and we'll kill Luke. Do you need anything else?"

Luke sighed, shifting against his restraints. The night had finally shifted, and Lyanna had finally stopped inflicting pain to Raphael. Luke didn't feel like sleeping, but there wasn't much else to do. As his eyes finally closed, he heard shuffling footsteps approaching. He opened his eyes.

Raphael was standing outside Luke's cell. He had obviously quickly snuck out from his room, as he was wearing only a pair of trousers. His chest was a horrible mess of scars and blood, and there was no bandage on his neck. He looked horribly ill.

Raphael said nothing, but neatly picked the lock of the cell with one of Lyanna's hairclips and undid one of the chains. Raphael glanced behind him and dashed off, leaving Luke to release himself. He whispered a short 'thank you' as he passed Raphael and Lyanna's room, then left silently.

As he scoured the paper the next day to see if Raphael had ended up getting the sack or something, he found nothing more than an article trying to say that Raphael and Lyanna were in an intimate relationship. Luke remembered hurrying past a group of journalists hounding Raphael once before, and what Raphael said stuck heavily in his mind:

"Intimate is such a gentle word, isn't it?"


	2. Chapter 2

Raphael looked somewhat relaxed, strolling along in the park. He was alone, which was odd. It was the middle of the day, and at this time Luke had noticed he usually ate lunch with Lyanna. Then again, Luke hadn't seen hide nor hair of Lyanna for a few days. He'd been watching them for long enough to figure out that Lyanna occasionally had to go and visit her family, and after a disagreement that left both Lyanna and Raphael completely rattled, she'd never again taken Raphael with her.

Raphael paused for a moment, and as the sun hit him, Luke swore he could see two mostly transparent wings adorning Raphael's back, making him more king than a golden, jewelled crown ever would. He had paused after catching sight of someone, as Luke watched two men and a girl approach him.

They started walking as a group eventually, chattering away in some kind of foreign language, but Luke could pick up Gabriel and Lyanna's names mentioned quite frequently. Luke wondered how long it would take him to actually get anything from Raphael – he had been assigned to research Raphael, but he barely understood the enigmatic butler.

After the group finally dispersed, after about twenty minutes of cheery converse, Raphael turned to Luke. "You've been following me for an awfully long time now, haven't you?" he asked lightly, his voice full of a strange kind of happiness. "I'll tell you all, if it pleases you. There's nothing interesting about me."

"Go on," Luke said, finally happy to get his damn information he'd been hunting for. "Uh, if you need a place to start, your relationship with Lyanna would help..."

"Of course. That's what everyone wants to know. Except they keep using the wrong words. So, what do you want to ask?"

"Please tell me about your _rough _relationship with Lyanna."

"That's better. Far better. Anyway, I joined Gabriel's company about a year ago because nobody else was actually trying to offer me a job and I needed the money. I knew the company was corrupt at the time, but corruption couldn't be worse than being flat-out broke. And I was right. I had money, food, a place to stay. I didn't quite bank on Lyanna being that abusive. Not that I mind much. The first week or so was the hardest, then it just became easier. I knew what to expect once the night fell. And if you want to know the answer to the question on everyone's lips, then I will answer it: I do love her. Do you know why?"

"Why?"

"Because there is nothing wrong with Lyanna but the fact she's been brought up in a family where murder and violence and torture and abuse was the norm. And I respect her for being able to handle a life like that, I really do. And it's not easy to hate her if you live with her every day and get to know her like I do."

"The public don't seem to think so. The public think you're all corrupt!"

"That we are," Raphael said cheerily. "Especially Gabriel. I've known him all my life and I've never seen a man so intent on corrupting the whole of London. Still, I blame his upbringing. Both of his parents were dead before he was eleven, and I swear I never saw a single flicker of emotion pass across his face for a couple years afterwards. Then he met some old girlfriend. Then he turned into the monster he is today. Gabriel and I attended the same high school, so I know plenty about his young antics. I did well in my classes, and he didn't do so well, and yet he's at the top of the political ladder and I'm down at the bottom. There was enough corruption before we walked in. Don't blame us for it."

"Those men... Who were they?"

Raphael's face completely transformed into a smirk before morphing back to its usual self. "Friends. Yes, quite, old friends."

Luke clicked his fingers and pointed at Raphael. "Right there. Why do you speak like that? Who the hell says 'yes, quite'?"

"You got me, you got me!" Raphael chortled, amused. "Or so you think. The truth is too unbelievable for rational little teenagers like you."

"Bring it."

"I'm an angel. I've been dead for over five hundred years and frankly, Gabriel has been dead for over a thousand. We descended to Earth a few months before Gabriel's company was established. Those friends of mine are other angel." Raphael noted the disbelief on Luke's face. "What did I tell you? You'd never believe us, but you believe in Lyanna. You believe in Layton..." Raphael trailed off. "Do you remember Gabriel's maid? She fed you."

"Yes, clearly. She was a very kind girl."

"She's dead. Gabriel killed her a while ago, before you arrived. You were talking to something that wasn't there. I should know that she was dead, I was the one who carried her dead body and buried it in the backyard. Not a nice job, I assure you."

"I don't believe you."

"And yet you believe in Lyanna. She's dead too, isn't she? A vampire, is she not? A bloodsucker, with fangs to boot. And yet you don't believe in us. A little choosy, aren't you?"

"But there's no evidence of you being an angel! It's not possible!"

"How offended would you be if a man kissed you?" Raphael blurted.

"WHAT!?" Luke choked. "Why do you-" Raphael leaned down, and kissed Luke. The younger had never been so bloody _embarrassed_-

...but he didn't. He felt... enlightened, lifted. Happy. And there were memories inside his head that weren't his, of Lyanna and heaven and everything Raphael had spoken of.

"I believe you," Luke breathed. "I believe it all."

"Of course you do," Raphael chortled, amused. "Anyways, if it helps, Layton is also an angel. We were sent down to get rid of the old people who controlled London – the corruption was so great that Gabriel was drawn in instantly – and I presume that Layton is here to wipe the corruption by overthrowing Gabriel. Nonetheless, he's too late. Gabriel is too strong now." He gazed up into the skies. "I don't think we'll be going back anytime soon. Not until Layton gets his act together. Once we are overtaken, we re-ascend for we have no purpose left."

"So, if you're really an angel, do you have... powers?"

"Do you think I don't? I just about cursed Layton, but... he reflected the curse. Quite well, actually. I am entirely capable of blessing and cursing who I choose, and while curses can be transferred via pentagram-method, blessings are usually transferred by kissing or... well, y'know. Things that go further than that. Curses and blesses are reversed when used on demonic beings – if I were to bless Lyanna, she would be seriously injured and have to be saved. Therefore I usually curse her – curses can also be transferred via kissing or ahem, severe curses, which basically lift her spirits and make her stronger and happier. We can also use traditional magic, but there are select humans down here who have also mastered magic." Raphael lifted his hand, a small fire blazing in his palm. He clamped his hand shut and the flame extinguished itself.

"So, I trust you'll be at the Full Moon Ball in a week's time?" Raphael asked, handing Luke a neat, handwritten invitation.

"I shall be there."


End file.
